The Quest for the Baseball Collectible
The Quest for the Baseball Collectible is a novel written by D. Isaac Thomas. It was released in 2012 on Movellas, though it did not become a novel until 2013. Summary When Cheese Bing plans a spooky sleepover in a haunted house that's about to be torn down, he isn't p!anning on making a fortune. But then he discovers something more valuable than go!d: a rare baseball card from the 1920s, hidden out of view for decades. Cheese is on his way to 1 million dollars...until a mean collector named T. Rick Collectine tricks him out of the card. Now Cheese must put together a team of friends (and one or two enemies) to get the card back. There are many things standing in their way--a menacing guard dog, a high-tech security system, and a very secret hiding place. But Cheese is The Man With The Plan, and even if some things go way beyond his control, he's not going to let his fortune go without a fight. Synopsis Discovery at the McLeach House The book opens with Cheese Bing and his best friend, Ben, sitting on a bed together inside a presumably haunted house called the McLeach mansion. Cheese shined his flashlight on his watch, which said 10:34 PM. Cheese was shocked, because twenty-eight other people had arranged to join them. Ben lamely offered that they were late, to no avail. He further asked Cheese what it mattered how many people were there, since the campout was a complete secret. Cheese pointed out that they would know, that they would prove to themselves that "they’re more than a mouse caught in a trap. Cheese had also planned a fake sleepover so everybody would have an excuse for coming. Ben pointed out that the others were scared of the house's status as being possibly haunted. He proceeded to explain several rumors, such as Old Man McLeach being in jail for murdering his wife via chainsaw, though Marcus claimed the weapon was actually a railway spike. After explaining several other factors he had heard, Ben was assured by Cheese that his friend did not even believe in haunted houses. A gust of wind blew through the eaves, and an odd moaning sound echoed around them. Even Cheese paled a little. He checked his watch again, which revealed it was 11 p.m. He spread out his bedroll and lay back, standing his flashlight on its base as he told Ben they should get some sleep so the trip will not feel like it lasted as long. Ben agreed, though he and Cheese agreed that if he woke up a victim of any of the rumors, Cheese would owe him twenty dollars. They lay there in the silence for a while, until Ben fell asleep. Cheese let out a low whistle of admiration at Ben's ability to sleep through his fears. It was harder for Cheese to settle down. He stayed up because he was thinking over the reason he and Ben were camping out in the McLeach house. The government had turned down the presentation from Cheese and his classmates over how the McLeach house (which would be demolished in the morning) could be turned into a skate park, not even willing to watch it. He regarded Ben’s slumber with envy, as he himself was too deep in thought to sleep. At last, he decided to wander the empty halls of the McLeach house. Suddenly, Cheese located a piece of furniture that had not been emptied out like the rest. He went over to investigate. Cheese played with the many drawers and compartments, until one remained stuck to its sockets. Cheese accidentally hit a small button, and the drawer opened to reveal an old, faded card from the 1920s. Because his family was very much struggling to make ends meet, he knew he could use the money. He had lived with the same friends for eleven years, something he would not give up without a fight. He doubted the value of the card, though he was still eluded. Finally, Cheese went to sleep. The next morning, Ben awoke to hear the beginning of the building's destruction and hastily awoke Cheese. Cheese popped up from the bag and they made a narrow escape as the mansion collapsed around them, spurred on by explosions and crashes behind them. They were halfway across town when Cheese sounded the all-clear. As they slowed to a walk, Cheese revealed the Bambino to an irate Ben and suggested they take it to Collectine's Museum of Sports and Memorabilia to discover how much it was worth. At the museum, the assistant Tom refers them to T. Rick Collectine. After Cheese turned over the last remnant of the McLeach house, she told him the card was worth thirty dollars, and their bargain led to her paying forty instead. Collectine then goaded them into lifting the safe before revealing that it was bolted to the ground, much to their embarrassment. Leaving the store, Cheese gave Ben half of the money. The Truth As long back as Cheese could remember, his father had been tinkering with some invention in the garage. But Mr. Bing had never become so obsessed with one of his creations that he quit his engineering job to buy time to develop it, until now. It was the SmartPick — fruit picker of the future. Cheese privately believed it was useless, provided there were "perfectly good human hands", but the common sense of the matter would not leave him alone. His family had bet their entire future upon it. As Cheese set down the SmartPick, the pole brushed against the antenna of his family’s old black-and-white TV. For an instant, the 13-inch screen resolved itself into a very familiar face before the image was clear. It was T. Rick Collectine, standing in the courtyard of her museum and holding the baseball card Cheese had sold her, surrounded by cameramen. Turning up the volume, Cheese learned from the report that Collectine knew the card was valuable, since it came from the long-ago fallen Museum of Treasures. When asked what she would seel it for, Collectine insisted the card was too valuable to simply be labeled with a price tag. She intended to sell it at the Professional Gideon's Annual Sports and Collectibles Auction on 17 October. The opening bid was to be 200, 000 dollars. In answer to the astonished reporters, Collectine said she expected she could get more than that, claiming it could be the rival of the only card that sold for over a million dollars. Cheese was shocked, realizing it was right in his hands, enough to permanently solve his family's money problems. Thinking quickly, he lied that he was going to Ben's house before taking off to Collectine's Museum. He arrived just as the press conference was breaking up under the watchful eye of the same fierce dog from before. Suddenly, he realized he did not know what to do next. He may be The Man With The Plan, but he had thought no further than getting himself to the store. Additionally, he feared that no one would believe him because he was a child. When the media people had gone, Cheese ventured up to the museum. The fierce guard dog blocked the front door, its teeth bared. Cheese sighed, and Collectine ordered the dog to let Cheese inside. Cheese immediately accused her of knowing the baseball card was real. However, Collectine smugly told him to "learn" from his mistake of trusting her and summoned Luthor, who cornered Cheese against a display case. As it prepared to bite him, Collectine insisted that Cheese was "just leaving." Terrified, Cheese retreated in the direction of the exit. Back on bike, Cheese realizes he has been cheated, not from a mere card, but from the entire future of his family. He prepared to embark on the greatest plan of his life. Teaming Up Cheese informed Ben of his plan, but he vehemently protested against the idea of pulling a heist on the museum and went inside. Cheese was then bothered by the school bully, Redhead, at which point he accused everyone of failing to turn up at the McLeach House. We are then introduced to several of his classmates, all of whom apologize. When class begins, Cheese and Ben resume their argument, but when it gets louder, Mr. Blue orders them to sit on opposite ends of the classroom. Over the next three days, Cheese sits with the quiet and gloomy Melissa, while Ben sits with the ambitious yet obnoxious Logan. However, Cheese refused to sit with Ben again. Ben trekked out on his own, but when he learned about Cheese's financial crisis, the two reconciled and began formulating their plans for the heist. Cheese fills out an outline of their plan of attack. Not knowing how to figure out the keypad code, the two boys hide inside a large globe cedar directly across 9th Street from Collectine’s Museum so they can record Tom keying in the keypad code. They proceed to the fence, but Luthor bursts out from the darkness and attacks them viciously, forcing them to retreat. Cheese tells a shaken Ben that they should talk to Savannah, an underage animal expert. Savannah is seen whispering softly to a rabbit until her mother calls her and tells her her friends have come over. Savannah regards them hesitantly, but she sets the rabbit down. Cheese asks her if she can talk to dogs the way she talks to rabbits. Cheese tells her about Luthor, but not how they know him, and Savannah says he's only vicious because his owner must have raised him brutally, and decides to prove their assumption that no dog is one hundred percent pure evil by following them to the museum. Savannah meets Luthor, but he merely perceives her as another intruder and ignores her efforts to soothe his pain. Cheese and Ben turn their attention to Collectine’s burglar alarm. They take the recording of Tom home, where Super Pumpkin Man, unaware of their true plans, tells them what code a fan of the Star Wars franchise would use, which would indicate a seven, not a four, as the second number. Bing finds this to be likely. However, bad news comes when Savannah gives up with Luthor, forcing Cheese to be honest with her and tell her about the heist. Enraged, Savannah storms off, although she promises not to report them. Cheese realizes to subdue Luthor, he just has to yell at him and threaten to blast him to Andromeda Galaxy. Infiltration of Collectine's Museum Feeling inspired by the iconic horse from the Trojan War, Cheese Bing teetered onto the sidewalk, struggling with a heavy-laden hand truck that had a box concealing Ben's form. He left it for Tom to pick up. Confused, Tom read the address of the shop and the message, To: T. Rick Collectine — Personal and Confidential, To Be Opened by Personnel Only. With a shrug, Tom dragged the heavy container inside and proceeded to leave the store. Cheese instructed Ben to count the seconds before sundown. Seeing no sign of Luthor, Cheese climbed the fence and peered into the window, only to realize Ben had fallen asleep. He punched in 1-7-0-1, deactivating the security alarm, and they located the place where the safe had been, only to realize it wasn't there at all. After searching the store, they were forced to concede miserable defeat. The Man With The Plan had run out of ideas. For the next few days, Cheese and Ben miserably contemplate their failure as the Bings prepare to sell their house to make ends meet. They were riding home when a full-throated braying resounded behind them. A large black dog chased them futilely, making Cheese realize since Luthor was at Collectine's house, the Bambino must be there too. Cheese declared that this time, they needed the ultimate plan. They scaled the house at night, only to evade Luthor once again. A slow chuckle mingled with Luthor’s angry braying. Cheese turned to see an elderly neighbor in a rocking chair at the porch of 531. The man was peering at them over his reading glasses with great interest. He revealed that he was Elijah, and that he always sat outside watching Collectine's neighborhood. In the library, they took to researching T. Rick Collectine’s security system, hoping to find a way to beat it. Cheese cited that the UltraTech company was almost unbeatable, especially because Collectine got notified if the alarm was shut down. Knowing the auction started in eight days, they decided to find a way into Collectine's House by scaling an identical-looking house nearby. To do so, he feigned an injury with Ben, and while the matriarch was cleaning his "wound", Cheese realized they should enter through the skylight. Afterwards, Cheese Bing sends secret notes to his friends telling them to meet him in the "ballroom" at three thirty. The ballroom is actually a storage area by the gym piled high with broken, deflated, and squashed balls of all kinds. Cheese tells them about the heist he is planning and implores their help owing to their "special abilities". Everyone agrees, even though Savannah is extremely reluctant. As it was, Bing became the team leader and blowtorch operator, Ben became lieutenant and tight space specialist, Savannah became dog whisperer, Logan became the "nosy neighbor neutralizer and lookout #1", Pitch became the "second-story woman", and Melissa became technician and lookout #2. But just as Cheese swears them to secrecy, Redhead, who saw Pitch's note, reveals that he has been hiding and eavesdropping throughout the meeting. Redhead asks to join the heist, but Cheese refuses until he threatens to report the plan to Collectine. He fills in the role of "muscle and miscellaneous". The Quest Begins References Category:Books Category:The Quest for the Baseball Collectible Category:G-rated books Category:Dougall-Fowl Universe books Category:D.I.T. books Category:2013 books